Grammy Awards In Talks To Return To New York In 2018, But It's Not A Done Deal

It’s been almost 15 years since the Grammy Awards took place in New York, but it looks like the celebration, which honors the best in music, could return to the Big Apple for the 60th annual Grammy Awards in 2018.

The New York Times reported today that an announcement will come within the next few weeks, with the ceremony taking place at Madison Square Garden. However, a well-placed source tells FORBES that while all sides hope to make the move happen, there are many moving parts to the deal that extend beyond the Grammy Awards and that there are several make-or-break-it details still to be negotiated satisfactorily.

For years, the Grammy Awards toggled back and forth between various venues in New York and Los Angeles, but 2004, the annual awards have been held in Los Angeles and for the last several years at AEG-operated Staples Center at the downtown LA Live entertainment complex. The same complex houses the Grammy Museum and AEG and the Grammys have enjoyed a close partnership for years.

For months, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office has been courting The Recording Academy, the Grammys’ organizing body, about the move, according to the Times with some of the main discussions about how to cover the extra expense—the New York Times puts it in the millions— of moving the show from L.A. to NYC. Sponsors—Adidas is reportedly already on board— are supposedly lining up to make up the difference.

While New York won’t officially host the event or provide tax incentives to bring the show to Manhattan, the Mayor’s office has worked to bring in other sponsors beyond Adidas and worked with the stage hands’ union, IATSE, to help negotiate a favorable labor agreement for the Recording Academy.

The Grammys have expanded far beyond the actual awards ceremony and making the move for the 60th anniversary doesn’t just mean shifting the Grammy Awards telecast eastward, it means transporting all the other events that happen during Grammy event, including MusiCares, to the east coast for the week and negotiating all those deals as well.

The 2014 Grammys (and attendant events) brought in $82 million to Los Angeles, according to a January 2015 report by Micronomics.